(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus and its processing method of revising basic settings, whereby the validity of input data is determined at the time of setup in manager setup mode, based on the content of input and the number of times of input.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
Recently, in image forming apparatuses such as copiers, facsimile machines, printers, etc., the basic settings have been stored in non-volatile memory, and they are permitted to be revised only when a service person or a machine's manager inputs a password. Because the basic settings of the apparatus include the settings for input timings of sensors in the scanner, printing portion, paper feed portion and the like, the settings for the operational timings of motors/solenoids from the sensor inputs, the settings for the fixing temperature and the like, if the settings are carelessly revised it becomes not only impossible to perform fine image forming but also the apparatus will not operate at all due to a timing error when some incorrect sensor timings are set up.
Since some malfunctioning such as margin offset, color imbalance, poor fixing performance or the like occurs when the basic settings need be rewritten, the service person will modify the basic settings of the apparatus. However, when the apparatus is in such a state that it can at least continue to operate and its recorded material can also be used as long as some inconvenience is endured, if an inexperienced manager etc. attempts to modify the basic settings of the apparatus carelessly, there may occur cases where the apparatus becomes inoperative or the recorded material becomes unusable, causing the problem that the situation not only becomes worse but also it takes long time to restore the original status from the ill-setting.
As a technology of preventing such ill-setting, patent document 1 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-open 2005-49548) discloses a configuration in which, when the user is determined to be a person who often makes key-operational errors in normal mode, the operating mode is switched from the normal mode into operating error protection mode so as to allow the user who makes few mistakes to operate in the normal mode and allow the user who often makes mistakes to operate in the operating error protection mode, to thereby prevent operational errors.
In the technology of patent document 1, since users who make many mistakes are recognized to switch the operation into the operating error protection mode, operational errors can be reduced. However, in the case of the basic setup of the apparatus, once a setting mistake is committed, there is the possibility that the apparatus will not work completely in the worst case. That is, it is possible for the technology of patent document 1 to reduce operational errors, but it is impossible to deal with erroneous setup. As a result, when the apparatus will not operate or the recorded material is not available due to ill-setting, the problem that a long time is needed to recover the original status from the ill-setting cannot be solved at all.